Wall Street bonuses are falling apart at their fastest rate since 1996

Wall Street bonuses are not what they used to be for many workers in New York City.

The New York State comptroller has revealed that the average bonus has dropped to $146,200, down from $160,280 in 2014.

While workers are still bringing home huge bonuses, that’s a 9% decline year-over-year.

The total bonus pool in 2015 dropped from $26.7 billion to $25 billion.

The drop reflects “a challenging year in the financial markets,” DiNapoli said in a statement.

“While the cost of legal settlements appears to be easing, ongoing weaknesses in the global economy and market volatility may dampen profits in 2016. Both the state and city budgets depend heavily on the securities industry, and lower profits could mean fewer industry jobs and less tax revenue.”

The NYC Comptroller provided a chart that shows average bonus payments for the last 20 years.

And here’s the breakdown based on bonus pools. While 9% is a big decline, it’s still far behind 1996 when bonuses fell by 20% year-over-year.

This 9% decline is the biggest drop since 1996 when bonuses were slashed by 20%.

John Howard is the Business Editor at BusinessPundit.com. He is an avid watcher of markets, a wallflower of retail, and a fan of disruptive businesses that utilize technology and unique ideas to form brilliant new ways of doing business. He can be reached at College Reviews.